On the ground floor of a one hundred room boutique hotel in midtown Manhattan, an office suite was converted to gym with a mezzanine. Because of the unsightly view of the rear yard, the design was treated as an entire environment, complete with its own “sky” that is depicted as an undulating ceiling inspired by Jorn Utzon’s Bagsvaerd Church outside Copenhagen. The resulting spaciousness recalls the openness of the outdoors; a small enclosed space was transformed to a large and open one. The mezzanine functions a perch where one can retreat or discreetly watch others. The tectonics of the connecting stair recalls the adjacent gym equipment.
Photos by: Brooks Walker